One thing Michael hadn’t counted on when he became a retail store manager was how fast his shoes would wear out. Mere weeks into the gig, the soles were already wearing thin, and he could tell he’d soon be spending some of his hard-earned raise on a new pair.
He knew he’d have more responsibility in his new managerial role, but what Michael hadn’t realized was how much walking he would have to do from the sales floor to the back room to the break room just to do the most basic tasks.
One of his most inconvenient tasks was going to the back room every hour or so to access the company intranet and check whether his supervisor had sent him any messages. Those messages often included memos or announcements from management that had to be printed out and walked over to the breakroom to be stuck on the bulletin board for employees to read.
Then back to the sales floor to supervise. And then back to the back room, ad infinitum.
When he wasn’t hoofing around the store, he found he was spending a ridiculous amount of time managing logistics and paperwork. This was another thing he didn’t expect. Just managing employee schedules, which was done using spreadsheets, took up hours every week, and even more when he had to scramble to find last-minute coverage for shifts.
He spent a lot of time checking in personally with employees to make sure they had read this manual or studied that training handout. And don’t even get him started on how much time—not to mention paper—it was taking him to print out and post entire memos and paper charts he needed to distribute to his employees.
He wondered whether there wasn’t a better way.
For instance, what if there was a digital tool that he could use on a portable tablet wherever he was in the store? What if that digital tool would allow his managers to communicate with him, and for him to message his employees directly?
What if he could pass memos and training manuals to his staff digitally, and have them show they had read them by responding or taking a quick assessment? What if his staff could manage their own shifts with a streamlined scheduling tool?
It seemed like a dream too good to be true to this tired employee with shoes nearing the end of their time.
But it’s a reality for many retail managers—it’s called a digital workplace, and it is a tool that could revolutionize Michael’s life. A digital workplace does all of the tasks that Michael imagined and more.
With a suite of capabilities to make their role more efficient and more straightforward, digital workplaces substantially reduce managers’ time spent on administrative tasks. They are now able to spend much more time on the salesfloor leading their staff in helping customers have the best possible shopping experience. Managers can save their spirits—and their shoes—while workers feel more engaged and satisfied with their work environment.
Read our white paper “A Day in the Life of a Store Manager Using a Digital Workplace” to learn more about the challenges that managers like Michael face every day and how a digital workplace can remove those hurdles.
